Nordelph Well Creek Smock Drainage Mill Nordelph · Norfolk · England

Nordelph Well Creek smock drainage mill was built on the bank of Well Creek at Nordelph to drain Nordelph Fen. Norfolk Mills records its purpose as drainage rather than corn milling. Windmill World identifies the coordinate-specific site as Nordelph, smock mill, and records its function as a drainage mill, with a related Mills Archive entry for Smock mill, Nordelph.

The mill's working history is connected to the changing water levels of Nordelph Fen. Norfolk Mills states that in later years, as the fen water level lowered, the mill scoop was unable to reach enough water to work efficiently. A second mill, Nordelph Fen drainage mill, was therefore built in the centre of the fen, midway between Well Creek and the Old Bedford River, to raise the water up a stage. This relationship shows that the Well Creek mill belonged to a staged drainage arrangement rather than a milling complex for grain.

The detailed construction date and machinery specification were not identified in the consulted sources for the Well Creek mill. Later sources record the post-working building rather than a complete working machine. Norfolk Mills states that both Nordelph drainage mills were truncated many years ago and converted to private residences, probably by the mid-1970s. A Geograph record from 2006 describes the Well Creek site as a truncated smock mill converted to a house, standing by the bank of Well Creek. The surviving character is therefore that of a residentially converted drainage-mill remnant.